Teriyaki Shrimp Stir Fry With Veggies and Udon Noodles
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Hello hello! This Teriyaki Shrimp Stir Fry with Veggies and Udon Noodles is another great recipe that’s perfect for my beginner readers out there! Want to combine yumminess with health and have tons of amazing flavours? Do you want to do this in under 30 minutes? Then this is the recipe for you! What’s not to like about it!
This recipe is perfect for when you’ve come home from work or school late and you have no plan for dinner! This recipe uses a couple of pantry staples. We’re using a combination of fresh and frozen veggies to minimize the preparation time, as the frozen veggies are already cut for you and you’ve got lots of variety in this dish. I used some fresh veggies to show you how to cut peppers and broccoli if you’ve never done it before!
I've recently been loving stir fries and I think they're perfect for beginners. The most complicated thing is the mise-en-place, getting all of your ingredients prepared. Check out the video below to see how I guide you through that process. I’ll also be doing that with step by step pictures in this blog post, so you’ll be set up for success! Once you’ve got all your ingredients prepped, then the cooking process goes by so fast it’ll be right before your eyes!
Shrimp is especially great if you're new to cooking because they cook in as little as three minutes! If you can get them peeled that's also a time-saver, but if not I'll show you how to peel them. Enjoy putting this awesome dish together!
How to Peel Shrimp?
This is the easiest way to peel the shrimp which i have using for a long time.
Start with the back of the shrimp and separate the outer shell, and pull the shell down the bottom.
To release the tail, pinch the longer side of the tail to break the shell and literally pull the it down the tail. This will ensure you don’t break the tail meat as you remove the shell.
Sometimes, you’ll notice a black line down the back of the shrimp. This is commonly known as the vein, which is a nice way to term the digestive tract of the shrimp. If you see this, please don’t eat it. Simply rinse the shrimp in cold water and remove the vein.
Making Your Own Stir Fry Sauce
Making Asian sauces for stir fry’s is a lot of fun and so simple. A lot of times in includes mixing together ingredients such as soy sauce, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and brown sugar to name a few. There are so many ways to tweak and adjust these flavours to suit your tastes.
So the next time you order General Tao’s Chicken or Orange Chicken, remember, the key flavours in these dishes comes from the sauce. And the sauce is a mixture of simple ingredients which can easily be prepared in any kitchen. Why not try to make it at home next time!
The stir fry sauce I use in this recipe is intended to be just enough to coat the noodles, shrimp and veggies. But if you want saucier noodles, you can easily double the amounts.
To prepare the sauce add the following ingredients to a bowl:
4 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp garlic, grated
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
Whisk the ingredients together until well combined.
Properly Cooking Shrimp
Shrimp cooks in minutes! In under 5 minutes, you can have perfectly tender, juicy shrimp and the key to getting a nice char and sear on the shrimp is using a wok, on high heat.
Use a bit of oil, and once it starts smoking, add the shrimp, seasoned with salt and pepper to the hot pan. Cook the shrimp for 2-3 minutes until lightly charred. As the shrimp start’s to cook, it turns pink and opaque.
As soon the shrimp is charred, remove the shrimp and set aside until later. The shrimp with finish cooking with the vegetables. If you cook the shrimp all the way with the initial sear, by the time the veggies, and noodles are ready, the shrimp will be hard as a bullet.
Cooking the Veggies
Vegetables need to be par-cooked to make for a good stir fry. What does this mean you ask?
The vegetables need to be cooked, yet still have a crunch. The best way to achieve this is very similar to the method used for the shrimp. In fact, you’ll notice, the whole stir fry dish is cooked in a wok on a high heat. This helps cook the vegetables quickly and give a char. The high heat is important to ensure that as the moisture gets released from the veggies, it evaporates quickly - keeping the vegetables crisp and firm.
Simple season the veggies with some salt, pepper and Chinese 5-Spice. Be mindful of the amount of seasoning, since the stir-fry sauce will contain salt as well.
Finishing off the Stir Fry
Add the vegetable medley mix into the pan and cook for another minute. Return the shrimp to the pan and add the sauce mixture. Mix all the ingredients, and turn the heat to medium-low. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Cook the noodles in the water now. Once the noodles and the stir fry have finished cooking, portion the noodles onto a plate and top with the shrimp-veggie mixture. Serve hot and enjoy!
More FAQs & Tips and Trick
What is a stir fry?
Stir frying is a Chinese cooking method where the ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, are cooked in very hot oil in a wok, continually stirring the veggies. You get the “stir” from stirring, and “fry” by frying the veggies! Because the heat is so high, everything cooks extremely quickly, so you just dump and cook!
Why is a stir fry good for beginners?
Maybe the high heat is intimidating to you. Don’t worry about it! Just know that stir fries are very active dishes, meaning you can’t divert your attention elsewhere! As long as you focus throughout the cooking time, you’ll be fine! Just keep stirring and monitor the cooking of your veggies.
In addition to monitor how ingredients transform to dishes, stir fry’s help depict the time saving’s achieve by preparing your ingredients ahead of time.
Also, various techniques such as preparing sauces, cutting vegetables are also great ways to get more confident and feel at home in your own kitchen.
Is a stir fry healthy?
Yes, I’d say that a homemade stir fry is! The take-out stir fries are known to be unhealthy because they use a lot of oil, and they tend to deep fry the veggies and proteins.
When you make a homemade stir fry such as this one, we’re not using much oil. You need just enough to cook the veggies and the protein.
My goal with these beginner recipes is to show you how to make well-balanced, nutritious recipes. I also want to show you different cooking techniques so that you’ve got a great toolbox of strategies depending on what you’re craving!
This stir fry recipe has a good balance of protein from the shrimp and a variety of healthy veggies that come from the fresh vegetables you’re using as well as the variety that’s found in the vegetable medley. The udon noodles help give body to the dish and fill you up!
We’re also making our own sauce. What’s great about making your own sauce is that you control what’s in it! As you get more experienced in cooking, you can judge whether there’s too much or too little of an ingredient, and adjust it to your tastes. The take-out stir fries are also loaded with sodium and MSG. You need some salt in order to bring out the flavours from the ingredients. However, you’ll be using just enough for flavour but not so much to mess with your body!
Can I use all frozen veggies?
Sure! As I mentioned earlier, I’m using some fresh veggies so you can learn how to chop them if you never have before, so I put those in as an opportunity to learn.
I’ve seen frozen sliced peppers at the grocery store before but I’ve never tried them myself, so I can’t guarantee the flavour will be the same. However, I’ve had frozen broccoli, and I find that when it cooks it becomes too soft and doesn’t have the same flavour and crunch as fresh broccoli.
On the other hand, if you’re cooking for yourself and you’re worried about having fresh produce spoil I totally understand. Just keep these points in mind. If you have any additional questions please let me know in the comments or by reaching out on any social media platform and I’ll be happy to give you more insight!
What if I don’t have a wok?
A wok is essential if you are looking to incorporate stir fry’s on a more frequent basis. However, I understand if you want to dip your feet in the water first before diving into the world of stir fry’s. The next best alternative would be a heavy bottom, stainless steel pan. This will help ensure the pan can withstand high heats and maintain it evenly to deliver a well cooked stir fry.
Can I make teriyaki shrimp stir fry ahead of time?
Sure! Although I love a stir fry fresh and hot out of the pan, you can easily meal prep a stir fry, if you are really short on time. That way, you’ll have a healthy, well-balanced meal ready for you to simply heat up for a few days. This recipe is easily scalable, so if you want to make more to save for later, then do so! Keep in mind, that the veggies will probably become limp as it cools down and soaks in the sauce.
However, note that the udon noodles will absorb the sauce if you store everything together. I would recommend you cook the shrimp and veggies, and then prepare the noodles fresh when you want to eat. They only take about 3 minutes to cook! On the other hand, if you don’t want to cook the noodles fresh, then store the noodles in a separate container so that the veggies and shrimp stay saucy.
Is this stir fry spicy?
No, I didn’t make this stir fry recipe spicy. We use Chinese 5-Spice to season the veggies, but it’s not particularly spicy. One trick that I like to use to make my sauce spicier is adding a little bit Chili Garlic Sauce into the sauce mixture. You could also sprinkle some chili flakes for even more taste.
Can I serve the stir fry with other noodles?
You can! Other noodles that cook quickly include egg noodles, rice noodles and vermicelli. However, these noodles are thinner than udon noodles. What I like about udon noodles is that they are very thick and they absorb the sauce nicely and add some body to the dish, nicely complementing the broccoli.
How can I make this shrimp stir fry vegetarian/vegan?
All the ingredients in this stir fry are vegan except for the shrimp. To make it vegan but still have your protein, substitute the shrimp with tofu. Cook tofu by boiling it first, then continue the cooking process as described, replacing the shrimp with tofu and following the same steps.
Watch How to Make Teriyaki Shrimp Stir Fry with Veggies and Udon Noodles Here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!